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Race
No pain for Kane
Jonny Kane Racing, 18th June: Ulsterman Jonny Kane had a blistering win today at the Belle Isle Raceway in Detroit despite his recovery from a big accident in the last race at Milwaukee. Kane dominated from the green flag to the checker and managed to keep his lead through two restarts.
Jonny had a three second lead when the race was stopped for Jason Bright who spun and hit the wall at turn 12 after 12 laps. Kane had an excellent restart and had pulled away another three seconds when the race was stopped again after 22 laps for Tony Renna who appeared to have something break on the car. Kane again pulled away on the restart and continued to dominate the remainder of the 32-lap race. Giaffone said:
"Jonny was very quick on cold tyres. Unfortunately I couldn't do anything to get him on the restarts."
Kane took the win and fastest lap from Felipe Giaffone in second, who was closely followed by Casey Mears in third and Scott Dixon in fourth. This weekend sees Jonny jump from 9th in the Dayton Indy Lights Championship to 3rd equal with Jason Bright on 32 points. Ahead of Kane are Casey Mears with 34 points and Scott Dixon with 54 points. Jonny leaves Detroit confident of a good finish at Portland next weekend.
JONNY KANE, #27 Team KOOL Green RACE WINNER:
"The race was perfect. I got a good start the first time and I was pulling away fairly easily really and I seemed to be very quick on the first couple of laps when everyone was on cold tyres. The first restart was really, really good I probably had a second of a lead on the green flag and gained another good margin on the first flying lap all the starts went really well.
"The car stayed exactly the same every single lap. It is wonderful when you have days like today. Team KOOL Green did an excellent job this weekend and got the result they deserved."
EDDIE JONES, Team KOOL Green Indy Lights Chief Engineer:
"I think it looked like an almost effortless and absolutely flawless performance by Jonny. Yes the car was good but really the car being good just lets him show the talent he obviously has and really that is what the race showed. He was able to pull away from the other cars very comfortably. An excellent result."
LOU SCHOLLUM, Team KOOL Green Indy Lights Team Manager:
"This was a fantastic result for Jonny. It just shows where he needs to be and he can certainly show us what he is capable of. This was an important result for the team considering the car was totally destroyed at Milwaukee and the boys had to work with a brand new car for this weekend. Well done everyone."
Qualifying
KOOL Kane smashes lap record
Jonny Kane Racing, 17th June: Detroit, Mi. (June 17, 2000) Team KOOL Green driver Jonny Kane stormed to the pole today for tomorrow's Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit. Kane broke the existing track record of 1:22.353 seconds by just over half a second with a time of 1:21.840 seconds.
The combination of cooler weather conditions and the additional grip on the circuit meant that times were going to be somewhat quicker than yesterday's qualifying where Jonny held provisional pole. Kane was able to continue yesterday's form and gained his second pole of the season for Team KOOL Green in the Dayton Indy Lights Championship.
Casey Mears will line up alongside Jonny on the front row with a time of 1:21.892 seconds. Felipe Giaffone took third spot on the grid with a time of 1:22.010 seconds and Scott Dixon with a time of 1:22.299 seconds will complete the second row. Jonny's teammate, Jeff Simmons qualified 9th with a time of 1:22.816 seconds.
JONNY KANE, #27 Team KOOL Green (1st with a lap-time of 1:21.840 seconds at 103.196 mph):
"I didn't get a really good lap to be honest, the session was a bit messy with a lot of traffic around. I should have been able to go a couple of tenths quicker than that really. It will be a long race tomorrow and the important thing is to have a car that is consistent. I think we have that and hopefully we have enough speed that we will be able to pull away.
LOU SCHOLLUM, Team KOOL Green Indy Lights Team Manager:
"Jonny showed us again that he is brilliantly fast on the street courses and is in a good position for tomorrow's race by starting from the pole. It is very difficult to pass on street circuits and he has put himself in the best position and hopefully he will be able to make advantage of it. Jonny comes away from today's qualifying in a positive frame of mind for tomorrow's 32-lap (75-mile) race.
Team KOOL Green, 17th June: Team KOOL Green's Jonny Kane earned the fourth Indy Lights pole of his career and his second this season for tomorrow's 32-lap race on the raceway at Belle Isle. Kane won the pole in the season-opener at Long Beach and set a track record today with a time of 1:21.840 seconds, averaging 103.196 mph. He outpaced Casey Mears by 0.052 seconds, who will line up next to Kane with a time of 1:21.892 seconds (103.131 mph).
JONNY KANE, #27 Team KOOL Green Lola T97/20: (1st with a lap-time of 1:21.840 seconds at 103.196 mph):
"Team KOOL Green is now two-for-two with poles on the streets this season (Kane won pole on the streets of Long Beach). I'm very happy, but I didn't get a very good lap to be honest. The session was very messy with traffic and cautions flags. I think we could have gone a few tenths quicker. It was just too tough to get a clear lap to go faster. You think you've given yourself enough room and you don't realize how fast you catch up to people.
"The plan tomorrow is do everything like Long Beach except the last four laps. We dominated that race, but one simple mistake cost us (he missed a turn). I think we have enough speed here that we should be able to pull away."
JEFF SIMMONS, #26 Team KOOL Green Lola T97/20: (9th with a lap-time of 1:22.816 seconds at 101.988 mph) "I'm disappointed with the way qualifying went for us. Team KOOL Green was looking really strong after yesterday with Jonny and I being 1-2. I went faster today, but so did everybody else. We qualified ninth, so there's no reason to think that we're faster than anybody else ahead of us. I think I could have gone quicker if I got a full run on my new set of tires. I only got one lap before a red flag came out. We'll have to figure something out in tomorrow's warm-up."
Friday Practice
Hot Kane stays KOOL in Detroit
Jonny Kane Racing, 16th June: Ulsterman Jonny Kane put his Team KOOL Green Lola-Buick on provisional pole today at the Grand Prix of Detroit. Conditions were hot and humid at the 2.35-mile street circuit where Kane put in several laps that would have gained him pole. Kane took the provisional pole with a time of 1:23.309 seconds, half a second ahead of his team-mate Jeff Simmons who clocked a time of 1:23.810 seconds making a provisional Team KOOL Green front row. Third up was championship leader Scott Dixon with a time of 1:24.185 seconds.
Jonny commented:
"We were pretty much quickest straight away. That session went almost perfectly. Unfortunately my first run on fresh tyres was waved off when I was on a very quick lap. I can generally repeat a time I've done already but obviously it's harder to do that on new tyres. We did a 23.6 first lap out and then 23.3 and then got caught in traffic so maybe we could have gone a little bit quicker. We've developed this car over a long period of time since last year, similar to what we ran at Long Beach and it worked well there so I think we'll just leave it as it is."
EDDIE JONES, Team KOOL Green Indy Lights Chief Engineer added:
"This morning there was a certain air of confidence I could tell Jonny was happy with the car. I was confident that our basic set up would be quick so if Jonny is happy with the balance he's ready to put it on pole. It was all a matter of him getting a clear lap, which he managed to do. We're quite happy with the car. I think this is rather like Long Beach where we made a couple of minor changes to the car. He was on pole there by a considerable margin and he was dominant in the race. I feel that we can see the same sort of performance here this weekend."
Jonny claims provisional pole
Team KOOL Green, 16th June: Team KOOL Green's Jonny Kane and Jeff Simmons were the two fastest drivers in today's provisional qualifying. Kane earned the pole with a time of 1:23.309 seconds, averaging 101.377 mph around the 14-turn Belle Isle circuit. Simmons was also quick with a lap of 1:23.810 seconds (100.771 mph). Points leader Scott Dixon was third fastest with a time of 1:24.185 seconds (100.322 mph).
JONNY KANE, #27 Team KOOL Green Lola T97/20:
"That session went perfectly really. It's always nice to be at the top of the timesheets for Team KOOL Green. I did get caught in traffic for a couple of laps and then I put a decent lap in on my older set of tires. Unfortunately, when I went out on new tires and had a fantastic lap waved off (due to a red flag). I was nearly all the way around and it was on course to be a 23.6 lap. That would have put me on pole by quite a bit at that time. The good thing is I did another quick first lap out after the red. I worked traffic again to find a gap and hit that 23.3 lap.
"We won't change a thing for tomorrow. We've been developing this car over a long period time from last year and the early part of this year since Long Beach. It worked well in Long Beach where we were on pole, so I think we'll stay with what we got."
JEFF SIMMONS, #26 Team KOOL Green Lola T97/20:
"Early on in the qualifying session we were P-1 (first) before the final red flag came out. We stuck on the new tires then because we knew that there wouldn't be much time left. It was all a matter of trying to get a clear lap. I followed Jonny out when we went green and he let me pass after the first lap. I found a good gap and took what the new tires would give me. I ended up with a little bit of oversteer in Turn 3, so I backed off that lap. On my last lap, I was pretty cautious in a couple of places because I didn't want to throw away another lap. So, I think there's more in the car.
"A little bit of tuning to get the car right, I put the lap together and I think we have a shot at the pole just like Jonny does. It's important for us at Team KOOL Green to have Jonny and I starting up front to keep pace with Dixon and Bright."
Race previews
Team KOOL Green, 9th June: TKG drivers Jonny Kane and Jeff Simmons are optimistic good results will come with a return to the 2.346 mile street circuit at Belle Isle on the Detroit River. Both drivers have enjoyed success in Detroit, as Kane earned his first career podium in Indy Lights with third last year and Simmons having won last year's pole in Barber Dodge and the race the year before at Belle Isle.
Jonny commented:
"Team KOOL Green had a good car in Detroit last year and I think we've already made improvements to our setup on street circuits. Last year I qualified seventh, finished third and I was closing on the first two cars towards the end of the race. With the success we had at Long Beach (won the pole), we'll probably go there with the same car.
"The first two corners, the right-left onto the long straight are critical. You need to have a good car through there to get onto the straight well. That's probably the biggest overtaking opportunity on the lap - at the end of the straight. Out of the corner and onto the back straight is also important."
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